Passion of St. John.​Murder mysteries draw a lot of attention. We love to read the books or see the movies and try to guess who the murderer is before the conclusion is given. “Who done it?” Catches our attention because we like to see that the bad guy gets punished.

Jesus was murdered—executed—unjustly. Who killed Him? Who is the guilty person or persons we can blame? Judas pops up right away. Pilot—the soldiers. Someone has to be to blame. Someone has to pay for the injustice that was done! For centuries everybody blamed the Jews. Regardless of where we cast blame, comes down to a basic truth—Jesus died to save humanity from death and sin. The author of death and sin is evil. So if anyone is to blame it’s the devil.

Although we are acquitted of our guilt because Jesus paid for our sins; we can still fall into temptation. The sin of pride is alive—diving many families. Division is in fact on of the greatest weapons of evil—so is fear. We give a lot of attention to sexual sins and forget the damage of the breakup of families—the silent treatment of folks who are angry at each other. Whole communities declare war because of opposing political views. Indeed the false prophets are enjoying the spot light—the problem is that so many listen—they are hungry for truth but are listening to the voice of deception.

In essence the guilty party—the murderer is still running loose. Our defense is Jesus Christ. That’s the reason we venerate the Holy Cross. When we kiss the cross we open our arms to the crosses in our life—the sufferings we have to endure. We unite our suffering to the perfect sacrifice on Calvary. Then we put on our armor with the Eucharist. When we eat His Body and drink His Blood we become invincible. No evil can hurt us when the Eucharist has entered our person. There is nothing to fear, not even death.